A clear picture was emerging. a test by the independent National McCain did accept public fi nancing,
The Democrat had every intention Journal to determine the veracity limiting his ability to raise private
of amassing more campaign cash of allegations that Obama’s online donations, but Obama reneged in
than any candidate in history in an fundraising system was designed to June, enabling him to raise unlim-
unapologetic effort to buy victory on facilitate fraud. ited amounts from donors.
Election Day. Despite such challenges, it’s clear The press by and large did not hold
As part of that pursuit, the cam- that Obama’s successful bid for the Obama accountable. But McCain
paign would ignore, and occasionally White House has forever changed criticized him sharply, saying: “Twice
encourage, obvious attempts to cir- the way national elections will be he looked the American people in
cumvent campaign fi nance laws by funded. For good or ill. the eye and said he would sit down
masking identities, dollar amounts, Obama’s fundraising “revolu- with me before he abandoned public
and countries of origin for an esti- tionized the way presidential cam- fi nancing. He didn’t mean a word
mated 2.5 million donors. paigns are fi nanced and may kill the of it.”
A subsequent month-long inves- Watergate-era system of providing Free to raise unlimited funds,
tigation by Newsmax exposed even public money for the general elec- Obama’s campaign brought in at
more discrepancies riddling Obama’s tion,” Bloomberg observed. All told, least $210 million in September and
campaign ledgers. Obama’s estimated $668 million October, more than doubling the
Still, the ruses worked. The cost of is more than twice what Democrat amount available to McCain.
the White House? Just shy of $670 John Kerry raised in 2004, and more Obama’s huge edge in fi nances
million in cash solicited by any than twice what George W. Bush and enabled him to devote nearly three
means possible. Obama spent Al Gore combined brought in during times as much as McCain to adver-
$613 million of that before the 2000 presidential campaign. tising, with the Democrat spend-
Election Day to help capture Obama’s fundraising engine was ing $21.5 million to McCain’s $7.5
63.7 million votes, or around in high gear from the very start, million from Oct. 21 to Oct. 28 as
$10 per voter. bringing in $24.8 million for the pri- Election Day neared.
“Nobody could have mary during the fi rst three months On the day before the election,
“No doubt
imagined numbers like this of 2007, compared with $19.1 million Obama ran 3,410 ads in seven com-
there is
or participation like this,” for Democratic rival Hillary Clinton. petitive states, while McCain ran GES
great cause
fundraiser Alan Solomont The Obama campaign invested only 1,900. Obama also far outspent
told
Bloomberg.com. more than $2 million in Internet McCain on staff salaries, helping
TY IMMA
to be
GET
The way Barack Obama infrastructure in early 2007, choos- him to open fi eld offi ces and fund a
concerned
managed the fi nances of ing top-of-the-line hardware and soft- get-out-the-vote effort.
about
his campaign remains the ware. Some of Obama’s New Media The impact is obvious now. Obama
subject of controversy and leaders, such as Joe Rospars, came beat McCain handily in a strategic
Obama’s
CHIP SOMODEVILLA/
investigation. The conser- from Howard Dean’s campaign. battle for electoral votes, the kind of
AMA/
fundraising
vative Heritage Foundation By the end of 2007, Obama had win that has all of the hallmarks of
effort.”
has taken the fi rst step in raised $102 million. He won the Iowa targeted advertising and expensive,
what could be an in-depth caucuses on Jan. 3, 2008, and raised high-touch voter outreach efforts in
investigation of Obama’s another $36 million that month. places such as Ohio, Pennsylvania,
fundraising efforts, demanding that Almost half of Obama’s money and Virginia.
the FEC audit the Obama campaign. came from people donating $200 or It happened largely because the
The foundation issued a release less, compared with 34 percent for Internet had disrupted the way politi-
the day after the election: “No doubt McCain, Bloomberg reported. cal campaigns are funded the same
there is great cause to be concerned On two occasions, Obama prom- way the Web uprooted many tradi-
about Obama’s fundraising effort.” ised to work with McCain on an tional businesses. Except to acknowl-
The foundation also pointed to agreement to accept public fi nancing. edge this new paradigm, that might
OMPOSITE/© 2008 JUPITERIMAGES CORP./ISTOCKPHOTO AND OB
C
Where Obama’s Money Came From
T
O
7
/PHO
-
4
Top Contributors
*
Top Professions Top States
GES46
A
University of California $909,283 Retirees $40,053,318$ California $67,987,097
Goldman Sachs $874,207 Lawyers/Law Firms Firms $$36,755,162 New York $43,322,531
Harvard University $717,230 Education $19,345,775$ Illinois $25,552,630
Microsoft Corp. . $714,108 Securities and Investments $12,653,140 Massachusetts $17,997,110s
Google Inc. $701,099 Misc. Business $12,239,151 Florida $14,154,041
*Totals reflect amount given by the organization’s PAC, officials, and employees, not the organization itself. SOURCE: Center for Responsive Politics
© 2008 JUPITERIMAGES CORP. / P
48
NEWSMAX / DECEMBER 2008
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